It was just presented Snapdragon 8 Gen3 from Qualcomm and after a few days the first smartphone with this processor debuted in China, i.e Xiaomi 14. But since the presentation of the processor, we have already started talking about the successor Snapdragon 8 Gen4. The Senior Vice President himself talks about it Chris Patrick , predicting that its price will be high.
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Technical characteristics Snapdragon 8 Gen 4
Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 represents a significant step forward compared to its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, thanks to the introduction of Custom CPU cores called Oryon. These customized cores will allow optimal management of the relationship between price, power consumption and performance, although they may lead to an increase in cost.
A Qualcomm insider has revealed that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 may be more expensive than the previous model. Although custom cores do not necessarily imply a higher cost, but they allow a different distribution of costs between performance e consumption energetic. Chris Patrick, senior vice president at Qualcomm, confirmed that there could be an increase in costs given that the goal is to achieve notable performance.
Why do we need more powerful processors?
The advancement of technology has made it possible the introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI). directly on mobile devices, a feature that requires greater computing power. The need for more powerful processors is especially evident with the advent of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which highlighted the importance of generative AI.
This processor supports multi-modal AI models through its neural processing unit (NPU) and enhanced AI Engine, offering revolutionary new capabilities. During the recent Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm has established some of these features, including a AI assistant powered by Meta's Llama 2 and a built-in Sensing Hub that securely accesses your device's sensors to provide personalized responses.
With the introduction of generative AI in local, devices can process data and provide responses more efficiently, without the need to connect to remote servers, thus improving privacy and response speed.
This paradigm shift moves a significant portion of computing power from data centers to user devices, thus requiring more powerful processors like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. With custom CPU cores like Oryon, the new processor will designed to handle complex AI-related tasks, while ensuring an optimal balance between performance and energy consumption.
Consequences for consumers and the market
The increase in cost of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could be reflected in the final price of flagship smartphones of 2025, such as the Galaxy S25 series and the Xiaomi 15 range. This price increase, although not welcome, is a natural consequence of the search for ever higher performance. Competition with other flagship chipsets like Apple Pro A17, pushes Qualcomm to seek innovative solutions, even at the cost of an increase in prices.
The only solution is, for the moment, opt for mid-range or low-range devices even if the future of generative AI will be the introduction also on the entry-level ranges. However, some time will pass before this happens.
